climate change

Maldives is now the poster-child for the consequences of climate change. Global warming will almost certainly lead to the demise of these islands which are predicted to submerge in thirty years’ time. Disappearing into the rising sea, it will become the first country having to relocate all its population as refugees due to global climate change.

The eucalyptus – one of the most extended species in warm climate areas – is recently under the spotlight after a tough summer -and autumn- for firefighters in Southern Europe, especially in Portugal, since the tree species is considered to be more fire-prone. Is it time to replace them with local species, or to improve forest management in keeping the current plant masses?

Still showing the wounds of the global economic crisis and in the midst of the greatest political minefield of a generation in Brexit, Ireland has sought to address the challenges of climate change with the recent unveiling of the National Mitigation Plan (NMP). However, as the dust has settled, what has become evident is that it is less of an actual action plan and more of a discussion document, tasking questions in the form of “what could be done” rather than “how they can be done”. The lack of bite in the document drew a not unexpected collective sigh of disappointment from the environmental community.

The decision of President Donald Trump to withdraw the United States of America from the Paris Agreement shocked the international community. After his decision (which, according to Article 28, of the agreement, cannot take place earlier than 4th November 2020) to abandon this historic climate pact that brought together all the countries in the world – with the exception of Syria and Nicaragua – is there still hope for an ambitious climate policy that keeps global warming “far below 2º C”?